Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Ed Emberley: Weirdos

Happy Halloween! Last year I posted about the great Ed Emberley. He remains one of my biggest influences and an important fixture of my childhood. You can imagine how excited I was when I saw some of his re-releases at the bookstore recently. So, in honor of Halloween, I bring you his book, "Weirdos"- that shows you step by step how to create some "weirdos" of your own. (only $6.99!)

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Faces in Places

Last year, I posted about how I couldn't stop looking at my DVR without thinking it looked like a hammerhead, and mentioned this book that came out awhile ago called Face to Face- well someone just sent me a link to this site which is all about the same thing called Faces in Places! I LOVE it! It's so happy mundane isn't it? I can't stop clicking through all the archives! Apparently you can send in your own. These are a few other people have submitted. (all images via Faces in Places)

Monday, October 29, 2007

blue munday: martha kitchen utensils

(sigh) It's munday folks. I'm sort of in this weird mood. It's grey outside, overcast... and currently several of my closest friends that I talk to or see daily are all coincidentally out of town. It's sort of weird when suddenly you find yourself all... "alone"...? He he, I'm just being melodramatic, so what does one do? Look at pretty blue things of course! I don't know if I could get tired of looking at that perfect light blue color that Martha just... owns. (damn her!) Was just clicking through Macy's and want the salad spinner... and the egg slicer... and love how they put the silicone stripe in the pastry brush. By the way, has anyone ever used one of those garlic peelers? do they work?

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Paper dispenser by Saatchi Saatchi for WWF

This is pretty clever...
"To make people realize that saving the planet starts with them saving paper, we took a standard paper dispenser and made a simple modification with green foil and the silhouette of South America. This allowed us to prove that the survival of the forest is directly connected to what people consume."
(via Ibelieve in advertising)

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Star Wars Tees

Halloween is this coming week. Are you doing anything? Are you dressing up? I just saw these Star Wars t-shirts and think they are hillarious! I love it. I totally want one... (or all of them!?) I can't decide! R2D2? Luke? Chewbacca? Darth Vader? I'm leaning towards R2D2 or Darth- but- OMG- I love them. (sorry, inner-sci-fi geek totally just took over there, hehe)

Friday, October 26, 2007

Brocade Home miniatures

So, you know how I was freaking out over the mini West Elm Chair- well, who knew that this was some new trend, cuz now Brocade Home has miniatures too! (They're much more expensive though) I would think you could maybe find a much cheaper version at your local doll/toy store, but still, what fun to look at!... I think my favorite would be the little mirror/dresser with the mirror.

Glass wall hanging vases at CB2

Happy friday folks. Is it me, or is it just one of those fridays where you just can't think about work? Instead, I'm thinking about my walls. I'm seriously eyeing these fun glass wall hanging vases at CB2. I like the tearshape, as well as the bottle shape. looking one. I like how they show it with sand inside. This could also look great mixed in with some framed photos, to form an interesting gallery installation type effect. Could be really fun if maybe you put in a branch where you made the leaves out of fabric or something... I dunno.. ideas... Does anyone have one of these?

Book Bonanza pt 2: Rex Ray book UPDATE!

Back in July, I posted about the latest Rex Ray book. Well, I finally purchased my copy and I'm sooo happy! I had an older, smaller book of his but this one is much more comprehensive. He has such great color usage and fun shapes. I'm particularly intrigued with his more intricate pieces that he's done recently. They're more complexly layered and look more like embroidery or tapestry. Definitely a must have for any color lover (and Rex Ray lover!)

Thursday, October 25, 2007

IKEA October 2007 News brochure

So I just got the latest IKEA October 2007 brochure. There's some interesting things in it! Last week, I stopped by there to get a picture frame, and noticed they had their Christmas selection up. I love the folk-artsy snowflake pattern they're using this season! They're using it on everything- bags, tablecloths, tags, wrapping paper, coasters, and more! I'm also loving the KIVISTA flocked lampshades! The purple/black colorstory they show it in looks really fresh for some reason. I also am totally loving the entire ESTETISK wooden organizer collection- How cool are these simple block magnets? (although I suppose they could also be a super easy DIY project, but they're only $2.99) and this wall organizer? ok, gotta go- Need to run to IKEA now! You can view the brochure here...

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Book Bonanza! Part 1- Birth of the cool

So last week, it was all about little boxes of goodies, but this week, it's all about books! Over the past month or so, I've picked up a gaggle of fun books I must share with you.
A few weeks ago, I had the chance to go to see a great exhibit at the Orange County Museum of Art. It's called Birth of the Cool- California Art, design, and culture at midcentury. It's such a great exhibit. It's the first exhibit I've seen in a long time that really impressed me. It's not very big, but it covers a lot of ground and really made me kinda proud to live in such a great area.The exhibit itself is also very well designed. They did some interesting details to display the work that really captured the feel of the midcentury era. They featured everything from furniture design, to architecture, to jazz highlights, to even children's cartoons that were created in Burbank back in the day. Really great stuff. If you get a chance to come down to OC, definitely hit it up. It's on through January 2008. The book is a great documentation of the exhibit. If you're local, you can get it at the musuem bookstore, otherwise, it is available for pre order here, or here..

mundane aesthetic: a hazy shade of gross.

It's really gross outside. The ash and soot is still in the air. It's really bad. This shot was taken at about 9:00 this morning.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Home Hero fire extinguisher

So with all the crazy fire/burning/brimstone going on here in my little city of Irvine, as well as many parts of Southern California, this little guy seems appropriate. The Home Hero is a fire extinguisher that is light enough to use with one hand- and it sure is nicer looking than the traditional one. I picked one up at Home Depot (normally $30), but this week it's on SALE! $25). It's pretty cool! I like the grey/white combo with the red accent. This is one of those things that you buy where you don't have to feel bad that you never use, because honestly, I hope I never have to use it! But it's good to be prepared...Yesterday, I saw a few pics taken around my area. Sunday night, when I took the pictures from yesterday's post, I didn't really go outside too far to see the reality of what was going on. It's really scary to see these places that I actually go to and pass by daily to be so close to the fire. My thoughts are with all of those that are still in danger.

Monday, October 22, 2007

mundane aesthetic: the moon is on fiya!

happy munday. There's a ton of fires going on in Southern California and throughout the States. There actually is one very close to my house. Only a few miles away. Luckily, my home is not in the danger zone, but the ash and soot is gross. Last night I looked up and the moon was this crazy orange red. It was sort of pretty in a creepy kinda way. There were no clouds, so it really shined against the black sky. I went to take a picture and then my flash went off. I was shocked to see what showed up.Can you spot the orange moon? It's kind of small. It almost looks like snow... but its not. its ash and soot.
kinda pretty... kinda scary. and then it got in my eyes. ouch.
I went back inside because my contacts were burning.

Friday, October 19, 2007

What's inside: Part 2

So I'm still blaming Real Simple... The cover of the October issue was the next culprit. Notice the super cute little horse sculpture? Well, that started a whole landslide of Jonathan Adler mania. I had to have the little horse ornament, um...and then I saw the little lion... um...and then I saw the mini sun...
oh, but then I also couldn't resist the little sugar/creamer set too! (sigh) I was soo bad. (But it feeels sooo goood!...) Inside the other box, was a few of those mini chair ornaments I mentioned earlier from West Elm. They're sooo cool! I bought a few for christmas gifts. (If any of you happen to receive one from me, just humor me and pretend like you're surprised.)

Thursday, October 18, 2007

What's inside!! Part 1 of 2.

Ok- sorry for the delay. Time to reveal what's inside my happy boxes!

First. Let me just say. I'm blaming Real Simple. Thanks Real Simple. It's your fault.
The last issue, started it all. It was this page:
See that cool lamp? yeah. that's culprit #1. I've been thinking about it for awhile, and seeing it in the magazine pushed me over the edge and I just had to get it. Luckily, I still had some left-over credit from my entry from the Color Contest by AT awhile back, (have you voted yet on this year's entries? go there now!) So it actually was free! yipee!! Anyways- here it is in my bedroom.
Ain't she purty!? I had an older Ikea lamp there, but I just wanted an upgrade, and a change. Speaking of IKEA, I was also thinking about getting this one, but I ended up liking the straight lines of the shade on the CB2 one better. The new lamp fits nicely. It also started another trend that I've been drawn to that continues on to tomorrow with the conclusion in part 2...

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Simple wooden tools

I am totally loving this simple wooden kitchen tools set, which I posted over on AT:LA this morning. Available from A+R.